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Loudoun County Democrats Fought Back To Reelect Obama

Jen Nowell, Shunqi Lin |
November 6, 2012 | 7:25 p.m. PST

Staff Reporters

 

The Democratic Party in Loudoun County, Virginia pulled out all the stops for this year's presidential election, from wearing their Obama gear, knocking on doors and standing outside football games to hand out Halloween candy, said the county's Democratic Party's chair. 

"I believe we will win Loudoun County, but it's going to be one hell of a fight," Evan Macbeth said over the phone. 

In Loudoun, it appeared to have worked. With 95 percent of ballots in the county counted, Obama had a five percentage-point lead.

Brian Burton, Leesburg district chairman for the county's Republican Committee, had expressed optimism in an email before the ballots began being counted.

"I think we can take Loudoun County for the reason being we voted in a governor [Bob McDonnell], a lieutenant governor [Bill Bolling] and an attorney general [Ken Cuccinelli] all from the same ticket three years ago," Burton said. "We should have the same mindset as of right now."

Macbeth said the residents and business owners in the county have been bombarded with elections information for almost a year now.

With election day here, Macbeth said there is not much he can do to sway undecided voters. But he said he is talking to his neighbors to get them to vote the president's way. 

"There's a very strong case that Mr. Obama has really exemplified the country's values and making it a stronger place," Macbeth said. 

Loudoun County represents where the country is going, Macbeth said, of the number of new voters. The county's population nearly doubled in 10 years, according to the 2010 census — jumping from 169,599 to 312, 311 — and the Hispanic population has tripled.

Both candidates have made a stop in Loudoun County this election season, with Obama in August and Romney in October. 

Simran Singh, owner of the Delhi Bazaar, a grocery store in Ashburn, said his support is with Obama because of the president's policies to support small businesses. In contrast, Romney is proposing to give money to larger businesses so they can hire more employees. 

“Just because you can give bigger businesses more money to hire more people does not really mean they will,” Singh over the phone today. He said he believes small businesses can actually hire more people if they have enough support, because “they know how to keep themselves together.”

Singh said opened his grocery store four years ago, and despite the failing economy, Delhi Bazaar welcomed a growing number of customers and profits after struggling in its first year. 

The grocery store owner attributes the good performance to good customer service. “Everybody who comes to our store knows us and they can get what they want,” he said.  

But Singh said that small businesses suffer as large corporations open up nearby, who often times attract customers away from the mom-and-pop shops. He said he hopes Obama will focus on creating jobs through small businesses.

Achin Patel, of Asian Fusion by Masala Country, said during a phone conversation that he is voting for Obama, as he did four years ago. The Ashburn resident said he is worried about Loudoun being a swing county.

Reach Jen Nowell here.



 

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